


Pops

by Wisky0913



Category: Star Wars Original Trilogy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-02
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-14 14:48:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,804
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29793531
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wisky0913/pseuds/Wisky0913
Summary: Short Story on Davish 'Pops' Krail: Gold Five





	Pops

Davish Krail had been involved with the rebellion since the beginning and he had lost count of the amount of missions he had been on. When he started he had been flying both transport ships as well as escorts for convoys as the rebellion focused on smaller relief operations with the occasional assault on an imperial installation or small fleet. It wasn’t until the rebellion organized on Dantooine that Davish got to see true combat.

After the rebellion organized on Dantooine, Davish was one of the first to walk over to check in with Gold Leader after their return from escorting Mon Mothma from Coruscant. As he approached Dutch he looked for the rest of the squadron, only to see gold two walking away from her y-wing after she landed. As he saw that he knew that the rest were gone and the look on his face changed from a bit optimistic to devastated look. 

Dutch had left Davish in command of the remains of Gold Squadron that had been left behind when it was divided to ensure that there was a bomber squadron on standby in case they were needed. Davish had made an argument for Tiree to lead the bomber squadron that stayed behind while he took Tyson’s place but Dutch had denied his request. Seeing the others not make it back only made him wish he had pushed harder to be on the mission but ultimately he knew that there was nothing that could be done and that the other seven pilots of Gold Squadron needed him and his veteran leadership. 

As he approached Dutch he adjusted the expression on his face returning to his more calm and collected look.

‘Good to see you Dutch,’ Davish said.

‘Good to see you Pops,’ Dutch responded. ‘How were things here while we were gone?’

‘Overall pretty good, there was only one issue where one of the astromechs blew a motivator midflight during a patrol mission.’ 

‘Well if that’s all there was, then I’d say you did a pretty good job as being a squadron leader for the first time. I’m sure you remember when I took over and miscalculated a flight with a recruit and how that went.’

‘Hard to forget,’ Davish responded as Dutch placed a hand on his shoulder before moving on towards the main base. 

As Dutch left, Davish made his way over to Gold Two who was giving her fighter a once over. 

‘How are you holding up?’ he asked.

‘A lot better than I thought there was a new imperial fighter that ripped right through the others form what I heard,’ she paused. ‘I got lucky.’ Davish watched her expression change to being much more solemn. 

‘Had I not been knocked unconscious while my fighter was being refueled, I might not have made it.’

Davish raised his hand and put it on her shoulder to comfort her. 

‘Remember I’ve been around this fight for years and lost many friends. I understand how you must be feeling right now.’

Davish watched as she nodded her head in response as he removed his hand and turned to walk back towards the base. 

For the next two years Gold squadron went on countless missions on behalf of the rebellion doing anything from fighter escort to bombing runs on imperial installations usually flying joint missions with Red and Green squadrons. The roster of the squadron changed as the years went on with pilots going down on different missions, including gold two when she was shot down by cannon fire after losing a stabilizer to a TIE. Others were reassigned to other squadrons including Broan Danurs who moved to Green Squadron to fly and x-wing after a disastrous mission where they lost five of their pilots.   
. . .   
The day had started like any other, Davish had woken up and reported to the briefing room. As usual Dutch had assigned him as Gold five and put him in a flight with Wona Goban (Gold nine) and Evaan Verlaine (Gold three). For the most part the day had been like any other, and Davish went around the base assisting where he could and ensuring that the bombers of Gold Squadron were in proper working order. About half way through the day a call went over the comm.

‘Blue Squadron report to your fighters, General Merrick will brief you en route.’ 

As Davish watched the pilots run past him towards their x-wings he noticed five pilots of their squadron break off from the group and board y-wing bombers marked with blue paint. Davish was both intrigued and confused as to why Blue Squadron was being scrambled on such short notice. Typically a squadron was briefed before a mission and form the looks of it, it was no ordinary mission. 

Davish was assisting a flight tech in transporting parts when Blue Squadron came back. He gave the group a quick count and noticed that there were only two fighters missing and both were x-wings. While he was sad that two pilots had been lost, he was happy to see all the y-wings land unscathed. Each of those fighters was about as old as him and had been through countless battles. While the rebellion relied on them a lot, they were not easy to come by as most had been recovered from imperial facilities. 

Only three hours later Davish heard the voice of a pilot he had only met once before during a briefing but had flown with on many occasions when Gold flew a joint mission with Red Squadron. 

'Attention, all flight personnel, please report to your commanders immediately. All flight personnel, please report to your commanders immediately. We have been redirected to Scarif. Pilots, you'll be briefed by your squadron leaders en route. May the Force be with you.'

Davish immediately rushed to his y-wing and noticed his droid had already been loaded into the socket. He ran a quick preflight check as he closed his bomber’s canopy, when everything was in order he called in over the comm as he received clearance for takeoff. As they were entering the upper atmosphere he called out over the comm.  
‘What’s the plan Dutch?’

‘We are heading to Scarif, there is reports of boots already on the ground. Their goal is to obtain the readouts of an Imperial battle station with the ability to destroy a planet. Our goal will be to fly support for the fleet and do what we can to assist. Remember, fly your run and hit what you can.’

Davish sent his acknowledgement along with the rest of the squadron before performing another system check as they jumped into hyperspace. As they emerged from hyperspace Davish took a quick assessment of what they are up against. He noted two star destroyers and shield gate covering the entire planet with only one opening as he heard Admiral Raddus come over the comm.

‘This is Admrial Raddus of the Rebel Alliance, all Sqaudron leaders report in.’

‘Admiral, this is Blue leader standing by.’ General Merrick responded over the comm. 

‘This is Gold leader standing by,’ Ducth responded over the comm.

‘This is Red leader, standing by.’ Commander Dreis responded. 

‘Red and Gold Squadrons defend the fleet! Blue Squadron get to the surface before they close that gate!’ The admiral ordered over the comm.

‘Gold Squadron you heard the Admiral, protect the fleet and standby for orders. Stay with your wing mates and lets do what Gold Squadron does best!’

Davish sent his acknowledgment as he formed up with Goban and Verlaine taking point in their group. They flew cover for the fleet as Blue squadron made their run for the surface. It wasn’t long before the shield gate closed resulting in the deaths of two of Blue Squadron’s pilots. As Davish watched the remaining x-wings pull away he turned his focus back to the battle.

As the battle raged on, Adrmial Raddus order Red Squadron to make a run on the shield gate to remove as many turrets as possible. As they made their run, Dutch came over the comm.

‘Gold Squadron form up on me, we are making a run on the shield gate’s left side. Avenger Squadron will take the right.’

Davish signaled his acknowledgment to Dutch and moved into position with Verlaine and Goban behind Dutch’s group. As they made their approach Gold Four in the group behind him was hit by cannon fire, blowing one of his engines completely off the fighter. As they moved into range he saw gold ten drop a bomb and then get hit with cannon fire as well sending her spiraling into the surface of the gate. 

‘Stay on target!’ Davish called over the comm. As he heard comm chatter from Avenger Squadron over his comm as they made their run.

As the last bombs dropped Davish heard the scream of Twin ion engines as his scanner filled with red dots and hundreds of TIEs poured out of the gates hangar. As he pulled around with the rest of gold he managed to pick off a TIE that was in cannon range before accelerating to reach the fleet. As Davish began to chase a group of TIEs he heard Dutch come over the comm. 

‘Gold five do you copy?’

‘I copy gold leader.’ Davish responded.

‘Break off your attack on those TIEs and move your group to point 4. Admiral Raddus wants us to press the attack. We are going to make a run on the weaker destroyer. Join Avenger Leader’s group and I’ll lead group two.’

Davish sent his acknowledgment as he moved his fighter into position just over the MC75, forming up just in front of a group of Avenger Leader and her bomber group.   
‘Hit that opening!’ Dutch called over the comm. 

‘We see it Gold leader! Ion torpedo’s away!’ Wona called over the comm.

The bombers all fired in unison launching their torpedoes at different sections of the destroyer. The first torpedoes hit the main hull through a gap in the shield pointed out by Dutch before Davish angled his fighter to fire more at the destroyer’s bridge along with Avenger leader and Verlaine. 

As Davish pulled away he saw that the run had been successful and that not only had all bombers survived the pass but that now the destroyer was adrift. The admiral’s next tactic sent both shock and awe through Davish as he watched a hammerhead cruiser ram into the side of the destroyer and begin to push it into the other destroyer. As they made contact the disabled destroyer sliced the bridge and its support structure clean off sending both down into the shield gate destroying it instantly as they fell. 

As the remains of the Empires forces were destroyed a large object emerged from hyperspace. Davish felt his heart sink. Was that it, he thought to himself. Then the object opened fire launching a green beam of laser down to the surface of the planet creating the biggest explosion he had ever seen on the planet’s surface. Davish heard Admiral Raddus over the comm. 

‘Rogue one,’ he paused ‘may the force be with you.’

Shorlty after admiral Raddus gave the retreat order and Davish signaled his droid to input the Yavin coordinates. As he moved to the jump point he saw other fighters being to make the jump. As his droid finished the calculations a warning light began to flash on his dashboard as an imperial star destroyer emerged from hyperspace. Davish pulled up on his stick managing to maneuver over the destroyer’s bridge before finally being able to make his jump.

As he landed on Yavin, outside the main hangar bay, he quickly powered down his fighter and exited his cockpit. As he stood up he looked around to try and find Dutch. After not seeing him to his right or in front of him, he looked to his left. There he is he thought to himself, talking to Avenger leader (his protégé) as usual. As Davish approached he saw Dutch give the other pilot a quick hug before releasing and watching as she departed for the hangar.

‘Good to see you made it in one piece,’ Dutch began to say. ‘I heard the comm chatter just after I made the jump of an imperial star destroyer coming out of hyperspace and cutting through he remains of the fleet.’

‘It definitely wasn’t a pretty sight, but I think the rest of our squadron made it back safely.’

‘It would appear they did,’ Dutch responded. Before Dutch could get his next sentence off, Davish cut him off. 

‘Dutch, that orb… was that it?’ Davish said as his voice began to crack, something that rarely happened with him as he had developed a calm and calculated exterior during his years with the rebellion. 

Davish watched as Dutch’s expression changed to a more somber look.

‘Yes, I believe that was it.’ Dutch responded. ‘With that in the galaxy it will be hard for our fleet to gather in full. No ship we have can stand up to that fire power.’

‘Much less a planet.’ Davish responded.

Dutch saw the stress that Davish was under and quickly changed the topic.

‘You flew well out there pops,’ he began. ‘So well that I ddint even need to make a pass on that star destroyer.’

‘As did you in that bombing run on the shield gate. But that destroyer run, you can thank your protégé for that.’ Davish said in response. 

‘She is not my protégé, more like the younger sister I wish I had.’ Dutch responded.

‘Yes but you trained her in the y-wing and I see a lot of you in her, both here on the ground and when we are flying. Call it what you will but you’ve made a big impact on her, never forget that.’

Davish watched as Dutch nodded his head in agreement as they moved back towards the hangar. 

‘It is always a pleasure to fly with you pops as well as it is to get life lessons from you.’ Dutch said as he let out a little laugh and put his hand on his friends shoulder.  
. . .   
Two days had passed since Scarif and the only news the rebellion had gotten was bad news. Admiral Raddus had been killed over Scarif, Princess Leia Organa’s ship was tracked and destroyed by the empire killing all aboard, the plans to the Empire’s battle station were lost and Alderaan had been destroyed. 

Command hadn’t sent many squadrons or teams out for missions as they felt it better to keep security tight in case the Empire found them here on Yavin after the battle of Scarif. The missions were also hindered by the availability of rebel Starfighters. While their losses at Scarif had been high those that did survive had returned with barely functional fighters that were in dire need of repair and were far from combat worthy. Davish had done all he could to help but it seemed it wasn’t enough.

Then the news came through while Davish was talking tactics with Dutch and the rest of gold squadron. There was as Corellian YT-1300 freighter on approach to Yavin that had provided the Princess’s clearance code and said that they had the plans aboard the ship. Davish cheered with everyone else when they heard the news but what came next surprised everyone. The princess and everyone aboard the freighter had allowed the empire to track them here to Yavin which meant soon the station would be here. 

As their briefing broke up, roughly thirty minutes after they got the news, Davish moved to speak with Dutch. 

‘It’s hard to believe that the Empire will be here soon. We had kept the base a secret for two years and now we might be facing the final days of the rebellion.’ Dutch began.

‘That is a possibility but if there is one thing I know, it’s that we’ve lost so many just to get these plans and with the destruction of Alderaan this weapon needs to be stopped at all costs.’

Dutch nodded in return as they both left the briefing room. As they left they saw a white and blue colored astromech with a silver dome roll towards them flanked by two technicians. Davish turned his head back to look after they passed to watch the trio enter the same briefing room they had just been in. About an hour later the squadron leaders were called to the war room and shortly after that Red, Gold and Green squadrons were called to the briefing room.

As General Dodonna explained the plan, Davish began to have doubts about the success of their plan and so did Dutch who asked about why they were using fighters to combat a station of that size. As usual General Dodonna provided a well thought out plan stating that the station was better defended against large scale assaults by star cruisers, while a one manned fighter would be able to do the job better. As Davish heard this he knew that somehow this plan would have to work, the alliance and the whole galaxy was counting on them. 

Once the briefing was dismissed Davish went straight for his fighter to ensure everything was in order. As he was giving it an inspection he turned to see Dutch speaking with Avenger leader again he could see the tension in her eyes as she feared the loss of her friend in the battle to come and wondered why only Gold squadron was being sent up with only eight y-wings as opposed sending two small bomber squadrons up, but those were thoughts for another time. 

Davish watched as the two embraced and parted ways as Dutch came over to him. 

‘How are we looking?’ Dutch asked. 

‘Everything is in order and I have full ordinance loaded. All bombers should be ready and accounted for.’

‘Good to hear we may need all of it to bring that station down.’

Before Davish responded he thought about the interaction he had just seen between Dutch and his protégé. 

‘Dutch,’ Davish paused. ‘Did you promise her anything?’

Dutch’s facial expression shifted. 

‘I did,’ he responded. ‘I promised that I would come back.’

‘Then let’s make sure you do. She needs a mentor like you in her life.’ Davish responded as he turned to board his fighter. He wished he had said what he was thinking about how he shouldn’t have promised her anything considering what they are up against. In his experience, Davish knew that you should never make a promise that you weren’t sure you were going to be able to keep.

As Gold squadron was given clearance for take-off, Davish began to warm up his fighter’s engines before pulling up on his control stick and maneuvering his fighter out of the hangar. As he took off he moved to the left to make a pass of the base while he waited for the other fighters to take off. Once all fighters were in the air he pulled into formation to follow the x-wings on their way up. 

As they neared the station Dutch called in over the comm. 

‘All wings report in.’

‘Gold two standing by,’ Tiree responded.

‘Gold three standing by,’ Verlaine responded.

‘Gold four standing by.’

‘Gold five standing by.’ Davish called. 

As the pilots finished checking in, Dutch came over the comm again. 

‘Red leader this is gold leader, we are heading for the target shaft now.’

After Red leader acknowledged and stated he was cutting across the axis, Dutch came over the comm again. 

‘This may be one of the most important battles in the history of the rebellion. Stick with your wing mates and let’s keep the rebellion’s dream alive.’

Davish watched as the fighters from red and green squadrons moved in to engage the station’s defenses. Illuminating the gray exterior of the station with bright red and orange explosions. As the battle raged gold leader called over the comm.

‘Fighters incoming. Gold Two and Five on me for the trench. The rest of the squad, engage the TIEs. Hold them off.’

Davish formed up on Dutch’s y-wing falling in just off his left engine as Dutch took the lead.

‘Red leader, this is Gold leader we are starting our attack run.’ Dutch called as they moved into the trench. ‘The exhaust port is marked and locked in.’  
As they began to maneuver down the trench, Dutch gave another order. 

‘Switch all power to front deflector screens, switch all power to front deflector screens.’

Davish flipped the switch to adjust his shields before taking a look around at his surroundings. 

‘How many guns to do you think Gold Five?’ Dutch asked over the comm.

‘I’d say about twenty guns, some on the surface some on the towers.’ Davish responded.

‘Switch to targeting computer,’ Dutch said over the comm. 

‘Computers locked, getting a signal. The guns,’ he paused, ‘they’ve stopped.’

Davish knew what was coming next, so he warned his squadron mates. 

‘Stabilize your rear deflectors, watch for enemy fighters.’

‘They’re coming in! Three marks at two ten!’ Dutch called.

Not too long after Davish heard laser fire behind him before he heard an explosion and saw Tiree’s fighter disappear from his scanner. 

‘It’s no good I can’t maneuver!’ Dutch called.

‘Stay on target!’ Davish responded knowing that they had to destroy this station at any cost. 

‘We’re too close!’

‘Stay on target!’

‘Loosen up!’

As soon as Dutch said that, Davish heard the laser fire behind him and shortly after Dutch’s fighter exploded. Davish immediately broke off his run and pulled his fighter out of the trench. He felt a pit form in his stomach as he remembered back to Dutch’s promise and he realized that the two would never see each other again. 

‘Gold Five to Red Leader. Lost Tiree, Lost Hutch.’ Davish said, realizing that he had mispronounced Dutch’s name as a result of his panic and anger with himself for not following Dutch’s lead. 

‘I copy Gold leader.’ 

Davish didn’t have time to correct him.

‘They came from behind!’

The next thing Davish knew he had lost his left engine and was began a downward spiral towards the surface of the battle station. As he went down he thought about those who had gone before and hoped that his failure wouldn’t be the end of the rebellion. The last thought that went through his head was about Avenger Leader. For some reason Davish had never gotten her name even though he had seen her a lot and had never asked Dutch. He thought about her and saw her as the future of the rebellion. I wish you well Avenger leader, he thought. The hope dream of the rebellion lives through you and your squadron.


End file.
